Hungry Like the Wolf(96)

“I’m sure,” Becker said. “I gave up trying to find a connection between Hardy and one of the general aviation operations out here. Instead, I tapped into the security feed for the cameras that surround the airport. I found the car that brought Mac here and followed it camera to camera until it stopped at a small charter service called South Salinas.”

Gage wanted to believe Becker, but this was Mackenzie’s life here. “How do you know it’s the car she was in?”

Becker spun his laptop around so Gage could see it. “Not many dark sedans driving around at this time of night with the rear passenger-side door ripped off.”

Gage grabbed the radio and thumbed the button. “Northeast quadrant of the airport,” he ordered. “East Sixteenth to North Twenty-Fourth. Stop three blocks short and follow the plan.”

Xander floored it and shot onto the expressway, heading to the general aviation side of Dallas/Fort Worth.

Gage glanced at his watch again, then looked down at the map of the airport spread out on his lap. He locked on to the spot where the hangar for South Salinas Air was located. He’d been staring at the map so long over the past hour that he’d practically memorized it. He wished he knew exactly where in that building Mackenzie was being held.

It didn’t matter. He’d be able to pinpoint her location the second he got within a couple hundred feet of her; then he’d get Mackenzie back. Assuming she was still alive, a part of his mind whispered darkly.

He swore, refusing to even consider the possibility.

“We’ll find her in time,” Xander said quietly as he took the off-ramp that led onto airport property.

Gage didn’t say anything.

“Mac’s smart. And she’s spunky as hell.” Xander shook his head. “I tried to scare her the other night when she came to the compound to see you, but she didn’t back down. My eyes were yellow, my claws were out, and I showed her my fangs. Even growled. But she didn’t flinch.”

Gage smiled. That sounded like Mackenzie. If anyone could keep herself alive in a situation like this, it would be her.

He forced himself not to look at his watch again. They’d be outside the hangar in minutes; then it would be up to him and his pack to get Mackenzie out safely. That was what they did for a living—they got hostages out alive.

And that was what they were going to do. They were going to get Mackenzie out alive, and if Hardy or his men had harmed a single hair on her head, Gage was going to shred the fucking lot of them.

***

Mac half walked, half ran for as long as she could, praying the whole time she’d find someone willing to help her. But all the open hangars she passed were dark and empty. Her knee and ankle throbbed so badly she thought she was going to drop to the ground at any moment. Not that she could keep running out in the open like this for much longer. One of Hardy’s men was bound to see her sooner or later. Time to stop trying to find help and fall back on her original plan—hiding.

She staggered past the next three empty hangars before settling on a big aluminum building filled with half a dozen small planes, rolling toolboxes, and wall lockers. There had to be a place to hide in here.

Mac hobbled as far back in the hangar as she could, then slumped to the floor behind a big toolbox. Just bending her knee that much made her want to yelp in pain, but she bit her lip and tried to make herself as small as possible.

She wasn’t a moment too soon. Within twenty seconds of slipping to the floor, she heard footsteps thudding against the pavement. Keep going. Please don’t look in here.

She’d been beyond lucky so far, but this time, her prayers weren’t answered. She didn’t know how many people were out there, but they’d stopped in front of the hangar she was in.

“I’ve got this one. Check the next,” Patterson shouted. “She couldn’t have gotten very far.”

Mac tried to crawl underneath the toolbox, but the space wasn’t big enough. Damn it. If Patterson walked around behind this line of toolboxes, he was going to see her, even in the darkened interior.

She looked around for another hiding place, but as badly as her leg hurt, she wasn’t sure how well she’d be able to get to it even if she found one.

“If she gets away, I’m going to kill you in her place, you know that, right?”

The sound of Hardy’s voice made her jump. Hardy and Patterson were both searching the hangar. Her luck was getting worse by the second.

She heard a clicking sound that she recognized from her shooting lessons with Gage. One of the men had thumbed the hammer back on a pistol.

“Unless I shoot you first,” Patterson answered his boss.